A 16-month-old boy has died
after being left in a car in Pontiac on Thursday, the second such case in metro
Detroit this month and third death under similar circumstances this summer.

Deputies were sent to the 1600
block of Savanna just before 6 p.m. Thursday because a woman was screaming that
her baby had been left in the car and was dead, according to a news release from
the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office.

The boy was taken to McLaren
Oakland hospital in Pontiac, where he was pronounced dead. An autopsy was
planned for today.

The boy’s mother told deputies the boy’s father was
watching him while she was at work during the day. She had left in the morning
and returned in the evening.

The father, a 46-year-old
Pontiac man, was questioned by detectives. The investigation is continuing.

Although the boy’s cause of
death has not been determined, at least two other children have died of heat
stroke after being in a vehicle in metro Detroit just this summer.

Two-year-old James Nelson was
found dead in a minivan in Shelby Township on Sept. 3. That investigation is
continuing as authorities try to determine who placed the child in his vehicle
seat. In addition, a 5-year-old boy died when he climbed into his grandfather's
vehicle in Romulus in July, according to Amber Rollins, director and volunteer
manager with KidsAndCars.org.

At least 10 children have died
of heatstroke from being in a vehicle since 1995 in Michigan, according to
Rollins.

Nearly three dozen children have died nationally this
year from being in hot vehicles, officials have said, with one dying every nine
days since 1998.